


sit it out

by elliewritesthings



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Drunken Confessions, Fluff, Humor, Kissing, M/M, Pining, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-24
Updated: 2015-12-24
Packaged: 2018-05-08 10:54:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5494586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elliewritesthings/pseuds/elliewritesthings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>However, when he steps out from between the shelves he freezes in place, brows furrowing as he stares at the chair, his chair, that’s currently being occupied by someone that is not him.</p>
<p>Well, that’s unusual, he thinks. During the current semester, Eren has never seen anyone sitting in his chair. In fact, the seats by the window are rarely taken, and even now there are plenty of available ones just few feet away, but Eren wants this one. Annoyance bubbles up inside him as he glares at the person who’d so rudely stolen his chair. Though all he can see is the back of the guy’s head, Eren can tell that he’s a grade A asshole.</p>
            </blockquote>





	sit it out

The campus library has become a second home to him by now, which, as lame as it may sound, is a vast improvement from his first year at college when he’d spent most of his time going from bar to bar and waking up in odd places. Now that he’s substituted books for beers, he can spend hours among the tall shelves, catching up with all the course materials he’d previously neglected. While it’s not quite as fun as the student association’s weekly bar crawl, he knows that his grades will be thanking him.

Speaking of which, with midterms fast approaching, the usually half empty library is somewhat more occupied when Eren finds his way there on that particular afternoon. He passes by the sleek desks and uncomfortable design chairs without a second glance and instead heads towards the more secluded space tucked away near the life sciences section.

Since he’s a regular at the library, he naturally has a favorite chair.

It’s located further away from the buzz of the entrance, right in front of the large windows that open up towards the campus main square. There are pairs of plushy green armchairs laid along the wall, a low table between each pair, until, at the very farthest end, sits a single lonely chair. That’s the one Eren has claimed as his own – as his lucky chair, if you will. Though he knows it’s no different from the other chairs, it feels softer and more welcoming somehow whenever he sinks down on it, not to mention that one time he found a ten dollar bill from the space between the armrest and the seat cushion.

However, when he steps out from between the shelves he freezes in place, brows furrowing as he stares at the chair, _his_ chair, that’s currently being occupied by someone that is not him.

_Well, that’s unusual,_ he thinks. During the current semester, Eren has never seen anyone sitting in his chair. In fact, the seats by the window are rarely taken, and even now there are plenty of available ones just few feet away, but Eren wants _this_ one. Annoyance bubbles up inside him as he glares at the person who’d so rudely stolen his chair. Though all he can see is the back of the guy’s head, Eren can tell that he’s a grade A asshole.

Against his better judgment, Eren lingers by the anatomy textbooks and pretends to be browsing through them as he waits for the asshole to move somewhere else. Classes are starting in less than five minutes, so he’ll probably go away by then, right? And who takes the single lonely chair by the corner, anyway? Why would you do that? There are dozens of available chairs close by that are exactly the same, why not go sit somewhere there like a normal person instead of holing yourself away in the corner?

Five minutes pass, then ten, and the annoyance in Eren’s gut is reaching a boiling point. He’s leafed through far too many books in an effort to busy himself while the asshole in his chair is still staying put, showing no signs of going anywhere. It’s so stupid, and Eren shouldn’t be as irritated as he is by this, but goddamnit, out of all chairs, this asshole had to pick his.

In the end, Eren sits down on one of the other chairs, but it doesn’t feel quite as right under his ass as he shifts around, glancing sideways at the asshole in his chair. Even from the side, he looks like an asshole.

He delves into the world of amino acids and alloproteins, everything else around him just a blur as he reads on. Every now and then when he turns the page or changes his position, he’s reminded that this isn’t his chair, and while it’s incredibly petty to be bothered by something like that, the knowledge doesn’t alleviate any of the restless whirring under his skin. The lighting’s wrong here and the fabric of the chair is too rough against the bare skin of his forearms, and he’s sure that if he could just sit in his lucky chair, he’d have a much easier time focusing on studying.

Darkness is starting to fall outside by the time Eren puts down his books and stretches out, hearing his neck give a faint pop. Though he’s gotten through at least a hundred pages, it feels like all that knowledge has gone in through one ear and out the other – no doubt because of the faulty chair. He glances to his left and lo and behold, that asshole is still exactly where he was before, sitting in Eren’s chair. All this time he’s been sitting there, changing positions slightly but never leaving, eyes glued to his own notes and books. It’s been, what, over an hour now, possibly more since he was already there when Eren showed up, but this guy doesn’t look like he’s in any hurry to leave.

As tempting as it would be to snatch his chair back from right under this asshole’s nose, Eren doesn’t have all night to spend at the library, so he marches off with his books in tow without sparing a second glance towards the object of his irritation

For the rest of the week, Eren’s too busy with group projects and cramming for midterms to think about the asshole in his chair. Armin has set up a little study circle among the second-year students in their dorm, and instead of the library, they meet up in various other places like the student center or the cozy coffee shop downtown. The latter is quickly becoming their regular spot – the squiggly chemical formulas Eren has scribbled into his lecture notes aren’t any easier to understand in group, but the place has excellent lattes and he would often amuse himself by chucking pieces of his blueberry muffin at Jean

(“Whatever, free food for me,” Jean would say and catch whatever he could with his mouth. One time Eren throws a piece of gum he peeled off the underside of the table at him and nearly pisses himself laughing when Jean dives for it, only realizing the difference when it’s already too late and the gum is halfway down his esophagus. )

Though studying in a group is supposedly more efficient, especially when that group is led by someone like Armin, a year’s worth of material is a lot to go through. It’s those long nights spent pouring over his text books and deciphering his half-assed notes when Eren duly regrets the entirety of his freshman year. The later it gets, the more he starts considering heading to the theoretical physics students’ department and begging them to build him a time machine so that he could go and slap his past self in the face. College students party, that’s a fact, but college students are, you know, actually meant to study as well. Past Eren must have missed that part in the fine print when he enrolled.

Sometimes it gets too nerve-racking, and that’s when he thinks of just throwing in the towel. Armin and Mikasa and the rest of his friends are stressed, as well, but at least they’re not as far behind in their studies as he is. That’s why he tends to seek solace among the shelves of the campus library – books are quiet and they judge no-one with their glossy covers and gently dog-eared pages.

The only thing missing from this equation is his favorite chair, because nowadays whenever Eren wanders into the library, he finds his chair taken, always by the same person.

Eren’s affectionately named him Undercut Asshole, since his undercut is all he can identify him by from where he tends to crouch behind the shelf to glare at him. In the span of a single week, he checks up on his chair every day at around four pm, and finds Undercut Asshole sitting there from Monday to Friday. On most days Eren can’t stick around long enough to see him leave, which implies that while Undercut Asshole is, indeed, a confirmed asshole, he at least takes his studies seriously.

Midterms come and go, like all things in life, and this time around Eren wades through them with adequate success. The only course he doesn’t pass is Introduction to Neuroscience, which is no wonder because he had no idea he was even taking that until about a month ago. All in all, he can give himself a pat on the back for a job well done as the fall semester comes to an end.

They celebrate by meeting up at their regular coffee shop, but this time no-one has their textbooks open. Eren’s squished between Mikasa and Connie in the little booth with Armin, Jean and Sasha sitting on the other side of the table. With his fingers wrapped around a mug of hot chocolate, he watches the snow falling outside the window with idle eyes as he listens to the others talk.

“So, after that, we’re heading to my uncle’s house in the mountains,” Sasha is saying, her spoon caught in midair and dripping coffee on her sleeve. “He’s gonna teach us to hunt deer.”

“What about you, Eren?” Mikasa asks from his other side, her quiet gaze piercing through him. When Eren tears his eyes away from the scenery outside, he notices that the whole table is looking at him, as he’s the only one who’s not peeing his pants in excitement about Christmas.

He sets the mug down and gives a shrug. Last week, he’d received a postcard from his parents who’d gone off to spend their second honeymoon in Bali, and they’d graciously informed him that they’d extended their stay by a couple of weeks, the lucky ducks. As such, his plans for Christmas mainly include sleeping a lot and maybe cracking open their dorm’s vending machine for free snacks.

However, he knows better than to speak that out loud, so he settles for something that’s less pathetic. “Well, uh, I’m probably staying at campus for the holidays. Nothing much.”

Armin looks like he’s been punched at that, and even Mikasa’s usually stoic expression falters a bit. “You could come up north with my family,” she offers. “We always make way too much food.”

“That’s okay,” Eren says with a dismissive wave of his hand. He’s not even sure if Mikasa’s being serious since it has to be the most awkward proposition he’s ever heard. “I’ll be just fine here.”

“But it’s Christmas,” Armin wheezes. Though he knows that Armin’s been preparing for Christmas for at least the last six months, Eren still can’t help but to laugh at his indignation.

“It’s _just_ Christmas,” he tells the disbelieving faces staring back at him. “Just one holiday among the rest.” Though they drop the subject and move on to other topics soon enough, he’s left with the feeling that none of them really believe him.

Over the next couple of days as he watches the campus slowly empty out, he’s not too sure if he believes himself, either.

Eren’s never been a Christmas kind of guy – truthfully, he enjoys Halloween a lot more. Even so, watching all of his friends scatter off to spend quality time with their loved ones has him feeling a bit melancholic. Things happen that way sometimes, and in all honestly, he’s well aware that his parents’ marriage hasn’t exactly been that stable lately, so maybe some time away from home will do them both good. That leaves Eren with nowhere to go or nothing to do for Christmas, which sounds kinda sad when he thinks about it.

He wakes up on the morning of Christmas Eve to complete silence. It's more than a little unnerving because their dorm is usually so full of noise and chatter and people, but now, as he rises and wanders out into the hallway, the only sound he hears is the shuffling of his own footsteps.

Everyone else has gone home for the holidays, literally everyone. He feels kind of lonely as he sits down by the kitchen table with his morning coffee, watching the snow falling slowly outside the window. For all he knows, he just might be the only person left on campus.

Now, if he'd been in this same situation last Christmas, he would've probably spent the whole of his holidays lounging around in his pajamas marathoning crappy tv shows. This year, however, he's a changed man, so after he's finished his breakfast, he cracks open his study plan for this week. He and Mikasa had made matching ones together for the whole of the semester, though hers had looked a whole lot prettier and more organized somehow. Eren's have random notes and reminders scribbled all over, along with some parts messily crossed out, but they've been pretty helpful in getting him through his classes so far.

Eren's marked today down as revision of the previous chapters, and since he has the particular book he needs sitting in his bag, he could still lounge around in his pajamas while studying. However, as he gazes at the large fluffy snowflakes dancing just beyond the windowpane and listens to the odd silence surrounding him, he's not sure if staying cooped up in their dorm would be the best idea. It's almost eerie how quiet the place is, so before he knows it, he finds himself gathering up his stuff in preparation for an another study session at the library.

The wind hits him in the face as soon as he steps outside, pulling up his scarf to shield his face from the chill. Thankfully his destination is just down the road, so it takes him a mere few minutes of trudging along the snowy sidewalk to get there.

Usually the library parking lot would be full of cars, but today it's completely empty as Eren makes his way to the entrance. It's not like he minds, though, since he's got a fuckload of studying to do if he ever wants to pass that neuroscience exam, and goodness knows he'll get absolutely nothing done sitting around in his dorm.

Blissful silence greets Eren as he enters, lingering between the shelves for a while before heading towards his usual spot. At least now it'll be available since virtually all students have headed home for the holidays, only a couple of people browsing through the magazine sections and someone typing away at their laptop by the desks near the entrance.

When he gets in view of his trusty chair, for a few moments he thinks he might actually be dreaming. There he is, that asshole sitting in his chair again.

“What the fuck?” The words are out of his mouth before he can bite his tongue, the harsh tone startling both him and Undercut Asshole, who snaps his head back to glare at him.

“Silence in the library,” he says and shushes Eren, nodding towards the sign on the wall that reads the exact same thing, but all that goes through Eren’s head is _fuckfuckfuck_ , partially because he can’t believe he said that out loud and partially because he never expected to see the front of Undercut Asshole’s head. In his darkest nightmares, the dude’s just an undercut all the way around. But now Eren’s struck with the realization that Undercut Asshole has a nose and grey eyes framed by thick rimmed glasses and defined features and slightly chapped lips that are turned downwards in distaste, and together all those components make an actual face. What’s next, the revelation that he has a proper name instead of just Undercut Asshole?

It takes a few seconds to get over the initial shock, but once he does, he stands his ground, hands clenching into fists. “There’s barely anyone here,” Eren argues, shifting on his feet under Undercut Asshole’s prickly stare. Those odd features are set in a scowl that’s full of such hatred that Eren would probably slink away if he weren’t equally pissed off.

“I know there isn’t. Let’s keep it that way.” Undercut Asshole makes a shooing motion with his hands, but Eren stays glued to where he is.

“You are sitting in my chair,” he intones, forcing out a polite smile as he gestures towards the other chairs. “Go sit somewhere else, please.”

Undercut Asshole tilts his head to the side and observes him like he’s a particularly interesting yet gross insect. “I don’t see your name on it,” he drawls out in a voice that eerily reminds Eren of middle school. “I was here first. You go sit somewhere else.” He turns his eyes back towards the textbook splayed open in his lap, clearly assuming they’re done here, but Eren’s not one to give up so easily. With his hands at his hips, he straightens his back and puffs his chest out – that’s what animals do in the wild, they make themselves appear bigger to scare off enemies, so if he has to be an insect in this dude’s eyes, he might as well be the most majestic alpha insect of the jungle.

“Now listen here,” Eren begins, and Undercut Asshole gives a deep sigh of agony but doesn’t look up. “I have been sitting here in this chair for nearly the entire semester. It’s my spot. Why did you start sitting in it?” He flails his arms desperately to stress his point, causing a few of his papers to flutter to the ground. “Actually, why the fuck are you even in the library during the holidays? What kind of a loser spends Christmas studying? There’s-“

“Eren Jaeger,” Undercut Asshole speaks out, slow and amused, and that snaps Eren out of his rant. He stares with wide eyes at the sheet of paper Undercut Asshole’s picked up and recognizes it as his Introduction to Neuroscience exam. His failing grade is written near the top in bold red pen, mocking him as he snatches the paper back. “What kind of a name is Eren?”

“It’s _my_ name,” he retorts and shoves the glaring evidence of his failure into his bag from where it can no longer taunt him, along with scooping up his other notes that had scattered by his feet.

“I figured that, yes,” Undercut Asshole replies with a raise of his brow. “It’s a dumb name, though.”

“You’re dumb,” Eren spits out in what’s truly a brilliant rebuttal. There’s a steady pounding somewhere behind his eyes the more he has to talk to this guy and he’s digging his nails into his palms to stop himself from giving in and slapping the other man in the face.

Seemingly oblivious to the annoyance  boiling inside Eren, Undercut Asshole decides to focus on his book again with a roll of his eyes. “At least I didn’t fail one of the easiest courses in existence,” he says in a sing-song voice.

Eren’s eyes narrow. “Screw you. Get out of my chair.”

“No.” Though his overall demeanor can only be described as rotten, Undercut Asshole manages to fill that one word with glee, obviously taking delight in Eren’s irritation. He takes a few deep breaths as he glares at the back of Undercut Asshole’s head, a view that has become all too familiar to him. Dropping his bag down with a faint thud, he saunters a few steps closer. The asshole is still ignoring him, but what Eren’s about to do next will no doubt catch his attention.

It’s a fact that Eren doesn’t really think before acting, especially when angry. There’s no way this could backfire, though, he reasons and doesn’t hesitate a second – with remarkable grace, he plops his ass down on the wide armrest of the chair, his knee coming dangerously close to Undercut Asshole’s face as he settles into a more comfortable position. If he can’t have the entire chair, he’ll at least take whatever he can without resorting to physical violence.

“Really? What are you, twelve?” Undercut Asshole drawls out, his voice growing more irritated by the moment. “There are a bunch of other chairs right over there.”

“I'm pretty comfortable here, thanks,” Eren replies and musters up the cheeriest smile he can, opening up his textbook. “But if _you_ wanna move, then go ahead.”

Undercut Asshole regards him in silence for what feels like an eternity before replying, “No, I'm good.”

“Fine. So am I.” And with that, Eren makes a show of flipping through the pages and pausing at the appropriate chapter, his eyes glued to the lines of text in front of him. From the corner of his eye, he can see something flash over Undercut Asshole's face – not exactly anger, but rather something resembling confusion or even nervousness. However, he's not showing any signs of giving up as he only gives a frustrated sigh and turns back to his own book.

It's a battle of the wills, now, and while Eren hadn't really planned for this for more than maybe a couple of seconds, he's never been one to back down from a challenge.

However, he has to admit that their current position is kind of awkward, especially for two grown-ass dudes who are complete strangers at best. Even after he's settled in to study, sitting with his legs crossed and the book laid out over his lap, his knee is a little too close to Undercut Asshole's face. The guy doesn't seem to mind, though, which might be the most unnerving part. He's not leaning away from Eren as any reasonable person would, but instead he's just sitting there, as if there was nothing unusual about this arrangement.

In fact, at such a close proximity, Eren can faintly pick up on the fresh citrus-y scent of what he assumes to be Undercut Asshole's shampoo, and, in theory, if he moved his hand just a little, he could easily scratch his fingers through that undercut that's probably really fuzzy to the touch, not unlike a baby duckling or something.

Whoah. Eren stares at the page in front of him without really seeing anything as he wonders why the hell that thought had popped into his head. He's not entirely sure, but he's convinced that it's this chair-stealing asshole's fault somehow.

While he's at least getting some reading done, it feels like none of the information is really sticking with him. Even after reading through the same chapter five times, Eren's still none the wiser about axonal transport or postsynaptic density or any of the other terms scattered throughout the text. In addition, it seems that Eren had initially overestimated the width of the armrest he's currently perched on. Sure, it's wide enough to comfortably hold at least one asscheek, but an entire ass is kind of pushing it, especially now when he's been sitting there for a while.

To put it bluntly, his ass is going numb. A phenomenon which would have never occurred if his behind was resting on the soft green cushion it has always rested on, nay, where it _belonged_.

In order to alleviate the situation, he tries shuffling around a little, and while it does help, it also makes him lose his balance for a moment. In an effort to not fall off, he grasps on to the back of the chair as he tries to make himself more comfortable, which, in turn, makes him all the more aware of the fact that they're sitting really damn close to one another. And yet, not a single word has been uttered between them after Eren's announcement that he's perfectly fine with unsteadily teetering on the armrest that is certainly not built for an entire ass.

By the way, he's reconsidering that statement right now. He's not fine, because no matter how much he shifts around, his ass is still sore and he's learned absolutely nothing about neuroscience, even though he's pretending that he's wholly immersed in his textbook. What he has learned is that he should probably think before acting and that Undercut Asshole seems to have the really gross habit of biting on his nails as he studies.

Since none of the material he's been reading through seems to stick with him, Eren's attention soon drifts to other places, mainly the asshole right next to him. This guy's probably either an engineering or a biology student if the book in his lap is anything to go by – but then again, since Eren's a biology student, too, he would've probably ran into him before if he were the latter. In addition, Undercut Asshole has a clean sheet of lined paper laying over the page he's currently not reading through where he'll sometimes jot down a few lines with his neat, slightly rounded handwriting. Craning his neck a little further, Eren sees, to his great annoyance, that this dude has a really organized and aesthetically pleasing way of taking notes, different colors assigned to different sections along with arrows and squiggly lines emphasizing the most important concepts.

Undercut Asshole's fingers are tapping a restless rhythm against the back of the book, but even so, he doesn't seem to have noticed Eren's insistent staring, which is a small wonder, really. He's chewing on the end of his pen, now, eyes glued on to his book, and as Eren continues to discreetly stare at his dumb face, he feels a faint sense of nervous exasperation bubbling up in the pit of his stomach.

Nevertheless, he sits there and goes through two more chapters before he gets too antsy to continue. Fucking hell, they're both just hanging around like a couple of normal guys being dudes, just nearly sitting on top of one another. Thank goodness there's no-one else around to see.

“Okay, yeah,” he states as he slams his books shut. A quick glance at his watch tells him that it's been almost an hour now. One hour and he's achieved absolutely nothing. “What a fun time.”

Undercut Asshole glances at him with mock surprise as he starts gathering up his things. “Leaving so soon? I thought you were just fine,” he intones in an innocent voice, and in that moment, Eren swears that he's going to throw this dude right out the window.

“Unlike you, I'm not a huge loser so I actually have places to be.” That's a complete lie, by the way, and apparently Undercut Asshole sees right through it since he raises an amused brow at Eren. “Besides, you can't spend all of your Christmas holidays sitting in my chair.”

“Watch me,” Undercut Asshole says, lazily flicking to the next page as if he doesn't have a care in the world.

The thing is that he literally can't. Though the library's open through most holidays, the doors lock automatically at night and the motion activated security system turns on, as Eren had discovered on one particularly embarrassing occasion when he'd accidentally fallen asleep while trying to study. Sooner or later this asshole's gonna have to leave his chair, and when he does, Eren's going to be ready.

For now, as he marches out of the library, his steps echoing off the polished linoleum floor, all Eren can do is wait. He has all the time in the world, anyway, and along with that, a plan brewing the back of his mind.

 

\- - -

 

Come next morning, Eren’s fully prepared to defend his throne.

The library doors unlock at exactly eight o’clock, so he makes sure to be there at least five minutes earlier with a couple of sandwiches and a thermos full of hot chocolate stashed away in his bag. Of course, the library has a strict no food and drinks policy, but all things considered, his chances of getting caught are slim to none.

When the clock strikes eight, Undercut Asshole is nowhere to be seen and Eren feels a sense of victory bubbling up inside of him as he marches into the empty library. Books and more books greet him from their shelves, each of them beckoning Eren to come closer and run his hands over their spines as he passes by. Perhaps some other time, he tells them, because while he’d enjoy reading through every single section of the library, neuroscience is probably the one he should focus on.

The neuroscience book he’s supposed to start reading from is as thick as his arm, and as he picks it up from its proper place on the shelf, he hears Undercut Asshole’s taunting echo somewhere in the back of his head.

“At least I wasn’t raised by fucking rude-ass wolves,” Eren quips, looking at the book expectantly. Being an inanimate object, it doesn’t respond, but Eren thinks that the soft ruffling of its pages as he browses through it sounds a lot like approving murmurs.

Book in hand, he turns the corner and lays eyes on the most glorious sight in the universe – his favorite chair, basked in the light of the bright lamps above and completely and wholly unoccupied. It’s been far too long, he thinks, admiring its green fabric and the sturdy armrests (that do not double well as seats, mind you).

He plants his ass down on the chair, and in an instant, all feels right in the world. The proper balance of things has been restored and Eren is king once more. If his ass could express emotions in an understandable way, it would be cheering wildly right now.

Even the intricacies of neuroscience seem easier now that he’s back where he’s supposed to be. A quick glance through the table of contents reveals that much of the material is, indeed, rather basic, even though Eren wouldn’t really call it ‘one of the easiest courses in existence’.

Chasing off all thoughts surrounding certain fucknuts with undercuts, he sets to work, opening up the first chapter. With all his attention on the dense paragraphs, he’s only partially aware of the snow falling outside and the wind howling in the corners of the old building. He’s used to a bit of hustle and bustle in the background when he studies at the library, but the gentle silence interspersed with the occasional hushed sounds of the weather outside is a nice change.

He’s not sure what time it is when he emerges from his textbook, but he does know that now there’s much more snow outside than back when he first came in. It’s falling in a heavy shroud from the white sky, and Eren can just make out the shapes of the trees across the road that are nearly doubled over by the merciless wind.

All in all, it’s a perfect time to crack open his lunch. The hot chocolate warms him to the bone as he watches the blizzard outside, safe in the dry haven of the library, and while it’s far from the best Christmas he’s ever had, he supposes it isn’t that awful.

Just as Eren’s finished that thought, he hears someone shuffling among the shelves. He turns around to glance back at the intruder and all it takes is one glimpse at the stupid undercut to recognize him.

“Well, well, well,” Eren drawls out. “How the tables have turned. Or should I say chairs?” He’d honed that line for much too long for someone who claims to give no fucks, but Undercut Asshole doesn’t look impressed. Actually, he looks more dazed, perhaps in awe of Eren’s ingenuity and his way with words. He’s looking off into the distance with empty eyes and fogged up glasses, and this is where Eren notices the wetness dripping from Undercut Asshole’s jacket and his gloveless hands that are clenched into shivering fists, the skin a pale, sickly shade.

He doesn’t react in any way until Eren’s standing right in front of him and poking him in the shoulder, and even then it’s just a disoriented glare. Something’s horribly wrong here.

“Dude, what the hell happened to you?” Eren asks, unable to conceal the alarmed edge in his voice.

“Fuck off,” Undercut Asshole speaks at last in a slurred voice, but as he’s currently dripping water all over the floor and getting bluer by the minute, Eren feels more concerned than startled. For a split-second he hesitates, considers whether or not he should do something, but it’s an easy choice to make in the end. Asshole or not, if the guy keels over now it’s going to be Eren’s fault.

“Were you walking? Outside?” he tries to pry, even though the answer is obvious from the soaked clothes. Undercut Asshole doesn't answer him, instead staring off into space once again, so Eren decides that he's going to be the bigger person here.

“Sit down,” he sighs, and when Undercut Asshole makes no move to do so, Eren literally grabs him by the arm – holy crap, the guy feels like an actual block of ice – and guides him to take a seat. “Are you okay?”

“The chair’s mine now, buttcrack,” Undercut Asshole mutters, and with some difficulty, props his wet and dirty shoes up on the table right on top of Eren’s notes. His voice is shaking too much to sound victorious, teeth chattering together pitifully, and it’s enough to convince Eren he’s not just bluffing.

“I _told_ you to sit down, idiot,” he quips. “Seriously, were you walking? Out there in that weather?” Eren gestures at the storm raging outside. “How fucking dumb are you?”

“Still didn’t fail any of my classes,” Undercut Asshole replies pointedly, a slight stutter creeping into his voice as he tries to make himself comfortable despite of the shivers that still rack his body.

Eren breathes out and counts to ten very slowly before speaking again. “Take your clothes off,” he orders in a strained tone, and that at least brings some color to the guy’s face.

“E-excuse me?” he stammers, staring at Eren with wide, offended eyes.

Eren takes another deep breath before clarifying, “Your jacket and shoes are soaked through. Take them off.”

“Oh.” Is that disappointment Eren hears in his voice? Either way, he’s removed his wet glasses and is taking off his shoes now while Eren rifles through his bag with his thoughts going a mile a minute. He doesn’t even know any CPR, though he’s not sure if anything of that kind would be useful in a hypothermia situation. It’s all he can come up with at least – they’re in a library, there aren’t any convenient blankets or hot water bottles here. The only warm think he finds is his thermos that’s still half-full with hot chocolate.

After making sure the lid is screwed on tight, he tosses it to Undercut Asshole who barely catches it before it falls on the floor from his hands that are still stiff from the cold. At least he’s done as Eren’s instructed and removed his ruined shoes and jacket, though it’s probably of little help – his jeans and the sweater underneath also look uncomfortably damp. His skin is slowly returning to its normal color, though the shivers aren’t subsiding.

“Drink,” Eren tells him as he picks the thermos up and sets it on the table. Undercut Asshole doesn’t move an inch, staring at the bottle like it contains poison, so Eren has to open it for him and thrust it in his face. “Here, it’s just hot chocolate.” In order to prove it’s indeed harmless, Eren takes a sip of it before offering it to Undercut Asshole. There’s a tense moment during which Eren can see the internal struggle reflected on his face, but eventually he gets over his pride and snatches the thermos from Eren.

“Forget about studying, you need to get back to your dorm right away and get warm again,” Eren rattles on, packing away his soggy notes. He’s already moved on to wondering whether or not there are any buses going on Christmas Eve when Undercut Asshole interrupts his train of thought.

“Apartment,” he corrects. “And I can’t.” It’s spoken through tight lips that are twisted downwards in a frown.

“You can’t stay here all night, either,” Eren replies over his shoulder. He finally straightens out and notices that the previous dangerously pale shade on Undercut Asshole face has been replaced by a faint blush.

“No, I literally can’t,” he forces out. The explanation that follows is clearly one he’d rather swallow down instead of sharing it with Eren if the edge in his voice is anything to go by. “My keys are inside of my apartment. And my phone. And my wallet.” He tapers off then, suddenly so fascinated by the act of cleaning his glasses with the hem of his shirt that he’s unable to meet Eren’s incredulous stare.

“So you locked yourself out, then?” Eren asks, just for clarification, and Undercut Asshole shifts around with unease.

“I wouldn’t use those exact words.” Eren has to strain his ears to hear him mutter under his breath, “but yes. Maybe. You could say it happened that way.”

That makes Eren’s scrambling thoughts come to a halt. _Don’t laugh, don’t laugh, don’t laugh,_ he chants inside his head and bites down on his lip hard. “How… “ A tiny chuckle pours from his mouth and he tries to disguise it as a cough, though Undercut Asshole must have caught it since his expression darkens. “Uh, how did you manage to do that?”

“Well, not on purpose,” he spits out as he sets the glasses back on his nose, and at that moment, Eren thinks he quite resembles an angry stray cat. As hilarious as that mental image is, it doesn’t help the current situation at all.

At the back of his head, an idea’s been brewing for awhile now. It’s a terrible idea, but that’s pretty much the standard for most of Eren’s ideas, and now, when he watches his former nemesis shivering in his chair, it all comes together suddenly. Call it overwhelming Christmas cheer or just plain old stupidity, but he’s going to go for it.

“Okay,” Eren begins, hand coming to rub at his temples. “Okay. What’s your name? Let’s start off with that. You already know mine.”

Undercut Asshole seems like he’s wondering whether to answer that or not, which is kind of ridiculous – it’s just a name, not a nuclear launch code. “My name’s Levi,” he says at last.

“Okay. Come on then, let’s get going,” Eren says with a sigh as he hoists his bag on his shoulder. “I guess it can’t be helped.”

Levi eyes him with disdain, not moving from his place. “Go where?”

“My dorm is literally just across the street, I can lend you some dry clothes and stuff,” Eren explains, and Levi looks like he’s swallowed a whole lemon.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he protests in a feeble voice.

“I know. Do you have anything better?” Eren questions, receiving a shrug and a wiggly hand gesture in response, which he interprets as a no. “Then let’s go. It’s only a short walk."

A short walk or not, it feels like it takes forever with the wind and snow blowing right in their faces. Levi’s trailing behind him like a mindless zombie and nearly trips on the sidewalk when they’re crossing the road. Despite the loud complaints that follow, Eren grips his forearm and all but drags him along for the rest of the way through the sleet and to the front steps of his dorm.

Once inside, Eren leads them down the hallway and into the empty kitchen. “Sit down. I’ll get you a change of clothes,” he tells Levi, who’s caught staring at the dirty sock crumpled on top of the microwave.

“Ew. Disgusting,” he gags. Eren’s quick to sweep the offending garment in the trash with a nervous laugh.

“That’s Jean’s. Probably.” The sock is stiff and crusty, and Eren doesn’t even want to know what Jean’s been using it for or why it’s in their kitchen, so he crams it inside an empty box of cereal that’s already lying in the bin.

He leaves Levi to peel off his jacket while he heads to his own room to look for any spare clothing. A quick glance over his shoulder tells him that Levi’s around the same size as him, though perhaps a bit shorter. From the depths of his dresser, Eren finds a t-shirt and a comfy pair of sweatpants.

When reaching for the underwear drawer, he hesitates for a moment. Is it awkward to lend your underwear to a stranger? He considers asking Levi how he’d feel about it, but he guesses that he’d probably just get a death glare in response.

In the end, Eren decides to forget about the underwear. However, he happens to find an old sweater with gaudy Christmas patterns, and while it’s the most hideous thing he owns, it’s also surprisingly warm so he adds it to the pile.

Levi’s exactly where he left him, sitting at the edge of the kitchen chair and fidgeting around like a sinner in church. He appears relieved when he sees Eren approach and drop the pile of clothes on the table.

“There’s no-one else here, they’ve all gone home for Christmas,” Eren informs him and sees his shoulders drop from where they’d been bunched up. “Shower’s along this corridor, second door to the left. The washer and dryer are also there, go ahead and throw your wet clothes in there” He lingers by the counter as he stares into the pantry, calling out after Levi. “Coffee?”

“Tea.” He’s already at the doorway, but turns to give Eren a look that’s probably meant to be grateful but comes across more as constipation. “Uh, thanks.”

Yeah, the underwear would have definitely made the situation even more awkward than it is now. There’s a near-stranger in their shower and Eren’s about to make tea for him. To his horror, all they have in the cupboards are a few bags of lemon tea that look like they’ve been laying there for decades. It’ll have to do, he decides as he puts the kettle on.

He does find a large bottle of red wine from one of the cupboards, though. There’s a tag around its neck that reads ‘Merry Christmas to my favorite uncle in the world. Love, Sasha’. Chuckling a little, Eren closes the cupboard door. Sasha must have forgotten to take it along. She’d started packing on the previous evening, running from one place to another in a mad frenzy. At least she’d managed to hide it pretty well – the cupboard in question is the one where they keep their baking supplies and lately all of them have been far too busy to even think about baking.

To avoid Sasha’s wrath, he leaves the wine bottle be, instead picking up two mugs and setting them on the table. The fridge is completely empty, of course, except for a single kiwi fruit and the remains of the eggnog from their Christmas party. There are some noodles and bread and other things in the pantry, in addition to the contents of the vending machine that Eren’s learned how to wriggle just right to get unlimited chips. Chips aren’t great over tea, though, so he decides to fuck it and just serve tea. It’s not a damn Christmas dinner, so tea will be just enough.

The kettle starts whistling and Eren moves to pour the hot water into the mugs just as Levi emerges from the shower. Now that he has some color on his face and the empty look is gone from his eyes, he looks less like an asshole to Eren and more like a real person. He drags a hand through his towel-dried messy hair and somehow Eren’s stomach feels hot even though he hasn’t taken a single sip of his tea.

“Feeling better?” Eren asks as he sits down, eyes drawn to the way his clothes sag on Levi’s thin frame. He actually wore the ugly sweater, fancy that.

Levi sits on the other side of the table, elbows propped up on the cheap plastic surface and head resting in his hands. “Yeah, a bit,” he mutters, fidgeting with his glasses. “Oh God. How embarrassing.”

It’s more awkward than embarrassing, but Eren supposes it’s nearly the same thing. “I’ve seen worse,” he says with a shrug. “You see all kinds of things when you live in a dorm.”

With his attention focused on the teabag laying at the bottom of his mug, Levi gives a shake of his head before asking, “Do you mind if I borrow your phone? I should probably call my landlady and ask her to come and unlock the door for me.”

“You should,” Eren replies. “You should call her. Here.” He plops his phone down on the table.

“I don’t even know what to say.” Levi’s still not looking at him, hands rubbing over his face.

“Maybe something along the lines of, ‘hey, I locked myself out, please come and open the door for me’?” Eren suggests and takes a tiny tip of the tea. All tea tastes horrible to him, but this one is especially papery and dry, which is a real achievement since it’s mostly water.

“No, I’m not talking about that,” Levi says in a flat voice, at last flopping his hands down and giving Eren a hesitant glance. “You literally gave me the clothes off your back, dude.”

“Not really. I haven’t worn that sweater in years,” Eren says with a laugh as his gaze is inexplicably captured by the snowman-embroidered neckline of the ugly sweater and the stretch of pale skin it’s exposing. “I’m sure you can see why.” When Levi only gives a tiny confused shake of his head, he clarifies. “Because it’s ugly.”

There’s a strange expression on Levi’s face as he replies, “I think it’s nice.” He raises the mug to his lips and as he drinks, the strange expression turns to one of nausea.

“You can keep it for all I care,” Eren says with a shrug as Levi fights to swallow down his mouthful. “And sorry about the tea. Uh, we didn’t have anything else.”

“Don’t.” He raises his hand once he’s gulped the tea down. “I’m the one who should be saying sorry. I was kind of an idiot.”

While Eren can’t argue with that, he’s not entirely faultless, himself. “You’re not the only one. I’m sorry for calling you an asshole,” he sighs, hands wrapped around his mug to keep them warm.

“It’s okay.” They fall into a silence, but somehow, it’s a comfortable one. “I don’t remember you calling me an asshole, though.”

“I did, believe me. Repeatedly, inside my head.”

“Okay then.” Levi narrows his eyes at him a little but doesn’t pry further. “For what it's worth, I'm also sorry for calling you stupid. And a buttcrack.”

“Let's just forget about it. It's Christmas, after all,” Eren states.

Levi lets out a strained sigh, reaching to grab Eren's phone. “Yeah, thanks. I'm gonna go call her right now.”

As he shuffles off in the direction of the living room to make the call, Eren's left in the kitchen, his only company being the god-awful tea. To Eren, all tea is just bland leaf water, but this particular cup of bland leaf water is exceptionally bad. They must have some sugar or honey stashed away somewhere, he reasons as he goes to rummage through the cupboards again. In his opinion, when something tastes like crap, the only way to salvage it is to add heaps of sugar.

He does find some eventually, sitting on the shelf next to Sasha’s forgotten wine bottle. Slowly, his eyes drift from the packet of sugar to the bottle of wine and then back again. Technically, since Sasha won’t be back until after new years, she’ll have no use for that, right? Besides, if Eren remembers correctly, she doesn’t like red wine that much herself, so what would she even do with it?

It would be a waste to leave such an expensive-looking bottle unopened, so in fact, he’s doing her a favor, Eren reasons as he grabs both the sugar and the wine off the shelf.

Just then he hears a cautious voice call out from behind him, ”She's not picking up, but I left a voicemail.”

“Well, then, bottoms up,” he announces as he plops them both down on the kitchen table, prompting a bewildered glance from Levi.

“Where did you get that?” he asks, disbelief laced in his voice.

“My roommate forgot to take it along. Let’s just call it a surprise Christmas present,” Eren intones with a lopsided smile.

“I hope this isn’t the same roommate with the gross sock,” Levi says, raising his brows slightly, and, against all odds, Eren find himself giving a short laugh.

“It isn’t. You want some?” he confirms as he unscrews the cork of the bottle, and Levi seems to hesitate for the briefest of moments. “Since you can't reach her right now you might as well get comfortable while you wait.”

”I wouldn't want to bother you,” Levi states in a tensed voice.

”It would bother me a whole lot more to have you freezing to death outside,” Eren quips as he pours some wine into his tea, and somehow that bland leaf water is starting to look a lot better. ”So, how about it?”

After a moment of consideration, Levi slumps back down on the kitchen chair and pushes his mug forward. ”Okay. Guess there's no other choice.”

“That’s the spirit,” Eren says in the most encouraging tone he can musters and pours a generous amount of wine into Levi’s drink. “Sugar?”

“None, thanks,” he replies, watching with his nose lightly wrinkled in distaste as Eren adds several spoonfuls of the stuff into his own tea, which, to be fair, is now maybe only ten percent tea and mostly alcohol. “Your roommate’s probably going to kill you.”

“She’ll understand,” Eren assures him, not fully believing that statement himself. “It’s kind of an emergency situation, anyway.”

His response earns a rare laugh from Levi who somehow looks a lot nicer now when he’s smiling instead of scowling. “How many of you are there living here, anyway?” he asks as he sips on his tea.

“There’s six of us, so it gets kinda crowded at times,” Eren replies, sitting back down after he’s achieved the perfect ratio of sugar and duped up bland leaf water. On second thought, maybe he should’ve left out the tea entirely and gone for wine only, but it tastes passable as he takes a tentative sip.

“No wonder you prefer studying at the library,” Levi comments with an understanding look.

“Yeah, it’s kind of a recent habit of mine.” He decides it’s best not to mention that until this semester he hadn’t even known where the library was. “What about you, though? Mr. Rich Guy with your own apartment.”

For a moment Eren worries he might come across as mean rather than friendly, but his worries disappear when Levi cracks a tiny smile at him. “I work at a coffee shop on the side and have a really old, drafty apartment. It’s not as fancy as it sounds.”

“Still, dude,” Eren insists, momentarily amused by the mental image of Levi whipping up a nonfat white chocolate soy cappuccino with five pumps of caramel and whipped cream on top or some other ridiculously complicated drink. “You have all the peace and quiet in the world, why even bother dragging yourself to the library?”

Levi gives a shrug, idly picking at the lint caught on to the sleeves of his sweater. “I like the atmosphere there,” he claims, and Eren swears he catches something like embarrassment flashing across Levi’s features. “I didn’t really mean to steal your chair, though.”  
  
“It’s not like it had my name on it,” Eren replies after a moment of consideration. His mug is already half-empty, so he reaches out to add in more wine. This is definitely not the way he’d expected to spend Christmas, but he has to admit that it could be a whole lot worse.  
  
It turns out that Levi’s an engineering student, just like Eren had thought, and plans to specialize in biological engineering. As he rattles on about various terms related to the field, Eren zones out a little, his eyes fixated on the way Levi’s mouth moves while he explains some topic Eren’s never heard of. Maybe he should lay off the wine for a while because somehow he cannot tear his stare away from those full, pink lips.  
  
However, he ends up doing the exact opposite, soon noticing that they’ve gone through over half of the bottle. No wonder he feels more jolly than before somehow.  
  
Before downing the rest of it, though, he figures that he should find Levi a blanket and a pillow or something for crashing on the couch, even though the guy claims he’d be perfectly fine without any.  
  
“Nonsense,” Eren tells him as he ambles towards his room, not accepting any objections. He knows that their couch isn’t the most comfortable one, but maybe it’ll do for one night.

It takes some digging through his closet, but eventually he does find a suitable pillow or two. The blanket proves to be a little more challenging, though - for fuck’s sake, he has to own at least one blanket, right? He distinctly remembers showing up for classes wrapped up in one last winter when their lecture hall’s window had been broken. Or wait, had that been one of Mikasa’s oversized scarves?

Either way, he’s almost lost all hope when finally his hands grab onto something that’s too large to be a towel and too thick to be a sheet. The duvet he pulls out has certainly seen better days, its seams slightly tattered and the fabric tearing at a couple of places, but it’s still better than nothing. Maybe if he put a duvet cover over it the thing would look more presentable.  
  
Just as he’s deciding whether or not to try find one from the depths of his closet, the power goes out.  
  
There’s a faint thump and then some cursing from the kitchen, prompting Eren to call out, “You alright?”  
  
“Yeah, yeah, I’m good. It’s just really dark,” he hears Levi reply, his voice somewhat frazzled. “What happened?”  
  
“I have no idea,” Eren states. All he can see is darkness since his room doesn’t have a window, so he’s very careful in scooting in the direction where he thinks the door is. “Stay put, I’m gonna be right over.”  
  
Levi gives a dry laugh. “As if I’d have anywhere to go. Are _you_ alright, though?”  
  
“Well, it’s not the first time this has happened.” However, this time around he’s completely certain that they’d paid their electricity bill on time - in fact, ever since that responsibility had been shifted from Connie to Armin, they hadn’t missed a single payment.  
  
It’s a little less dark out in the hallway as he makes his way back to the kitchen, but he can still only see faint outlines of furniture and nearly trips over his bag that he’d left lying on the floor. “Okay,” Eren says, squinting his eyes in an effort to make out Levi’s figure. “I guess we should find a flashlight or something. Where are you?”  
  
“I’m not sure. Somewhere, I think,” Levi replies in an uncertain voice, the legs of the chair scraping against the floor as he supposedly stands up. The sound comes from somewhere on Eren’s left, so he instinctively turns that way. “Where are you?”  
  
“Over here. I’m gonna try to feel around,” he exclaims as he reaches out, his hand touching on to something solid that he soon recognizes as the edge of the kitchen counter. Grabbing onto it, he inches forward with slow, shuffling steps. “Follow the sound of my voice. Careful, there’s not that much space.” Just as he’s said that, there’s the sound of Levi stumbling around, followed by a faint thud that sounds like him hitting his toe on something.  
  
“Fucking fuck,” he spits out, a faint slur in his voice. “I probably should’ve mentioned that I really can’t hold my liquor.”

Well, that certainly doesn’t help things. “It’s fine, hold on to something like the table or the wall and try to walk over here,” Eren replies as he inches forward, his other hand reaching into the darkness in an attempt to find Levi. “It’s a pretty small kitchen, we’re gonna bump into each other eventually.”

“I hope so,” Levi responds, and this time it sounds like he’s a lot closer than before. In fact, as Eren waves out his hand again, it collides against something warm and soft that moves under his touch. “Oh, that’s my shoulder. Hello.” There’s a faint shuffling noise, and, soon enough, fingers grasping tightly onto Eren’s forearm.

“Alright, that’s progress,” Eren states. His eyes are slowly getting used to the dark, though he still can’t see anything but faint outlines. “Do you still have my phone?”

“It’s on the table, I’m pretty sure I can reach it.” He feels Levi reaching towards the table and, after some more shuffling, hears him give a sigh of relief. “Here.”

The screen bursts to life with harsh cold light that makes Eren squint, a stark contrast to the darkness they’re enveloped in. “Okay. This is actually a lot better.”  
  
What takes place then is perhaps the most awkward game of follow the leader he’s ever been part of. Using the light from his cellphone, he stumbles into the hallway with Levi grasping onto his arm almost too tight. Since it’s not the first power outage their dorm has experienced, he knows that Mikasa has an emergency stash hidden at the top shelf of their cleaning closet. It’s an excellent place for hiding things since literally no one looks there, and even now as Eren’s reaching up on his toes and feeling around, he’s pretty sure that he’s the first one to crack open the closet this month.

Eventually he finds a flashlight with no batteries, a packet of candles, some matches and one small bag of peanuts. Quite honestly, he’d expected something more useful, but at least they now have some other source of light than just Eren’s phone.

Speaking of which, as Eren’s lighting the candles he’s placed on top of the television, he quickly checks his local news app, and the main headline immediately catches his attention.

“‘Power outages expected throughout the whole state due to massive snowfall’,” he reads out loud and hears Levi give a long exhale from where he’s settled on the floor.

“That’s lovely. I need another drink,” he declares, and Eren couldn’t agree more.

With candles strewn over every surface in the living room, it’s actually kind of atmospheric, Eren decides as he plops back down on the floor. Festive, even. It’s still pretty dark, but at least now he can make out Levi’s slightly hunched over form sitting next to him. The couch is right there, only a couple of feet away, yet for some reason or another, they’d ended up sitting on the floor.

“I’m allergic,” Levi informs when Eren tries to offer him a peanut so instead he scarfs down a few himself. The half-empty bottle of wine is sitting on the floor with them, along with the leftover eggnog Eren had retrieved from the fridge - it would spoil, anyway, so it’s better to drink it at once. “But thanks, anyway. If you don’t mind I’m gonna focus on keeping hydrated.”

“Same,” Eren comments as he watches Levi take a swig of the wine straight from the bottle, the muscles in his throat moving smoothly as he swallows it down.

His own mouth suddenly feeling dry, Eren turns to the eggnog. It’s more than a little stiff since Connie and Sasha had been the ones to make it, but Eren doesn’t mind one bit as he chugs it down. All the better, in fact.

“Merry Christmas,” he announces after the bitter aftertaste has disappeared off his tongue and hears Levi give a snort.  
  
“What a way to spend it, huh,” he mutters as he sets the bottle down, reaching up to wipe his mouth with the oversized sleeve of his shirt.  
  
“It’s not that bad,” Eren insists with a shrug. “There’s alcohol, and the candles are kind of festive.”  
  
There’s a short moment of silence, during which he glances over at Levi, his features illuminated by the soft candlelight as he sniffs at the ones perched on the coffee table. “It smells like lavender,” he points out, and now that Eren thinks, he, too picks up on the faint scent of lavender wafting through the air.  
  
“Fancy that,” he says. He’d known that Mikasa loved incense and scented candles, but at the very least he’d assumed that their emergency candles would have been, you know, just regular old candles. But apparently not, so here they are, just two guys hanging out amongst a sea of lavender scented candles.  
  
As Levi drinks down the last of the wine, he gestures at Eren meaningfully with the bottle. “You’re weird as fuck, you know that?” he says, sounding like that fact had just dawned on him, and judging from how he’s swaying back and forth, it’s probably a good thing they’re fresh out of booze. “Who the hell invites a total stranger over on Christmas? That’s so awkward.”  
  
“A decent human being who doesn’t want said stranger freezing to death,” Eren quips with a laugh. In truth, he’s feeling kind of buzzed, too, and it takes him a lot of effort to focus his gaze on Levi. “Besides, it’s not like I invited you to our family’s Christmas dinner or something.”  
  
“But still,” Levi insists, clapping him on the shoulder, the sudden contact making Eren’s pulse race for some reason. “You’re a good guy, Eren.” For a moment or two he looks like he’s about to say something else, but he falls silent, eyelids drifting closed, and before Eren can do anything, he passes out, slumping against Eren’s shoulder.  
  
Eren freezes for a few moments, completely freezes. He swears that all the cells in his body have stopped their movement and the only thing that registers to him is Levi’s warm weight against him, his face buried in the space between Eren’s neck and shoulder as he snores away. His hair tickles Eren’s skin when he shifts a little in his sleep to get more comfortable. _This is bad,_ Eren decides just then, and as he glances down at Levi’s oddly serene expression, dark lashes splayed out over delicate pale skin, he only feels all the more nervous. _This is definitely bad._  
  
Since Eren’s not exactly the straightest crayon in the box, so to say, he’s never really thought about where the line goes with just two regular guys doing some platonic male bonding and, well, just two guys being gay for each other. Even so, he’s pretty sure that falling asleep on top of each other is kind of toeing that line.  
  
At first, he tries to sort of wiggle his way out and leave Levi to sleep it off on the floor, but soon notices that it’s not really getting him anywhere. In fact, it only leads to Levi reaching up to grasp onto his arm with a surprisingly determined grip for someone who’s sound asleep. For a while, Eren settles for just watching him, his glasses slightly askew and his face framed by silky black strands of hair with the candlelight casting dark shadows across his cheeks, and yeah, it’s definitely crossed a line, at least on Eren’s behalf.  
  
With some masterful maneuvering and a whole lot of inappropriate thoughts running through his head, Eren manages to lay his guest down on the couch. He’s surprisingly heavy for such a short guy, but it just might be the fact that all strength has left Eren’s body - both because he’s kinda drunk and also because he’s having a minor existential crisis over how nice Levi’s body heat feels on him. In fact, he kind of finds himself missing it after he’s managed to get Levi on the couch, and for just a split second, wonders if it would be appropriate to curl up next to him for just a little while. The scent of lavender and the comforting dim light is making him sleepy, and it would be so nice to just take a little nap with something warm resting against him.  
  
The answer comes to him pretty soon: it would definitely not be appropriate. However, it seems that this revelation is a little too late since he already finds himself hovering over Levi, one knee braced on the couch next to him.  
  
It’s not creepy, alright? He’s just standing here, perhaps bent down a little too close as he examines Levi’s face. It still looks like he’s sleeping, and since he hadn’t woken up from Eren dragging him over to the sofa, he probably won’t wake up if Eren takes a short little nap next to him. Just a tiny one, just a couple of minutes, since now all of the sudden his limbs feel so heavy that he can barely stand upright.  
  
A couple of stray hairs have draped themselves over Levi’s glasses, so enticing as they curl over his forehead. Eren’s hand moves on its own, as if in slow motion, to brush those strands aside, and as soon as his fingers touch Levi’s skin, those piercing grey eyes snap open.  
  
They stare at each other, Eren’s heart pounding in his chest so loud that he’s sure Levi can hear it, too.  
  
“You’re a good guy, Eren,” Levi mumbles, his hand coming up to awkwardly pat Eren on the cheek. “D’you wanna know why I really come to the library to study?”  
  
“Yeah?” he asks, not really sure where this is going. He would’ve expected Levi to maybe throw a punch at him or something for getting all up in his face, but apparently he’s more of an affectionate drunk since he’s currently focused on combing through Eren’s hair in clumsy motions.  
  
“Because you’re there,” he laughs, and Eren raises his brows at the statement. “I watched you. That’s probably creepy, but you have a really nice face.” As if to stress his point, Levi pinches at his cheek, pulling at it lightly.  
  
“Okay. You’re drunk,” Eren states, not sure whether to laugh or cry, but there is a nervous little grin tugging at his features. This is the point where he should probably slink off to avoid embarrassment, but it seems that Levi’s not letting go of his face.  
  
“And then I tried sitting in your chair and it was really comfortable. I can see why you like it,” Levi goes on as if he hadn’t even heard Eren, his hazy stare fixed on Eren’s mouth in the most distracting way. “And I thought maybe you’d come and talk to me if I sat in it for long enough.”  
  
“So you wanted to get to know me and you decided sitting in my chair would be the best way to do that?” Eren asks, amusement laced in his voice, and now he really can’t keep the grin off his face, both because that’s some really baffling logic and also because there’s something wildly fluttering inside him at the thought of Levi wanting to talk to him.  
  
“It worked, didn’t it?” Levi argues, words slurring together.”Didn’t plan on getting locked out, though. That was because I’m an idiot.”  
  
“You’re drunk,” Eren states again, releasing the long exhale he hadn’t even realize he’d been holding. “Sleep it off now, okay, you can call your landlady again tomorrow.”  
  
“You’re really nice, Eren,” he mutters in response, moving to grip at Eren by the collar of his shirt, and it’s just then that Eren realizes how close their faces are.

“Okay,” Eren says, his head going blank as he sees Levi’s expression flicker with something dark and hungry. That's all he can say, really, because the next thing he knows is Levi yanking him down and crashing their lips together.

Even in his somewhat inebriated state, Eren realizes that now they’ve irreversibly crossed the line - in fact, he’s sure they’ve transcended the entire concept of social norms and dived headfirst into unknown territory where nothing and no-one exists other than the two of them. He should pull away, he really should, but the taste of red wine that he sucks off of Levi’s tongue is too delicious to resist.

When they finally part, both gasping for breath, Eren cannot get a single word out of his mouth. As he looks down at Levi, he thinks he sees a trace of panic reflected back in those hooded eyes, so in order to assuage his concerns, he leans back in and captures Levi’s lips in a kiss that’s a little more intense than before.

It’s kind of nice, he has to admit. Yeah, they’re both drunk and will probably regret this in the morning, but as Levi’s fingers card through his hair again, lightly pulling at the strands, Eren all but purrs into his mouth. In fact, it’s so nice that Eren’s itching to reach out and let his hands roam down along Levi’s chest and stomach, to get closer to the comforting warmth of his body.

Just as he’s gathered up enough courage to do so, Levi yanks his head away, taking in a long breath. “I think I’m gonna throw up,” he mutters, a queasy look settling over his face that makes Eren pull back altogether.

“Wait, was I that bad?” he asks in panic as Levi clambers off in the direction of the bathroom, clasping a hand over his mouth. “Are you okay?”

“Yes! I mean, yes I am, and no, you weren’t,” he hears Levi call out, and then there’s the distinct sound of something splattering against the porcelain of their toilet bowl. “We’re gonna continue this conver-” His sentence is interrupted by loud coughing and even more questionable noises. “We’re gonna continue it!”

Eren listens to the sounds of him projectile vomiting while trying to go on and states, “Sure thing.” Maybe it’s a sign from the universe that they should call it a night.

Eventually it seems like the vomiting has stopped, and Eren pours himself a large glass of water in order to sober up at least a little before going to help Levi. There’s not much he can do, though, since he finds Levi slumped next to the toilet, passed out again. Now it’s kind of useful that he only has the light from his cellphone, Eren reasons as he goes to flush the toilet, silently hoping that there’s no vomit on the floor that he could step on. It doesn’t seem so, at least, and as he hoists Levi off the floor, he’s glad to see that his clothes haven’t gotten dirty, either. After what they just did on the couch, Eren’s pretty sure that trying to take the guy’s clothes off while he’s unconscious - even only to switch them out to clean ones - would be terribly wrong on so many levels.

He gets Levi back to the couch and drapes the duvet over him, lingering only for a second to remove his glasses and place them on the coffee table before drawing back with a sigh. Even though it had only been a kiss, Eren can’t shake the feeling that he’s fucked up like never before.  
  
Despite of his earlier intentions, Eren doesn’t curl up on the couch next to Levi, but instead shuffles off to his own bed after making sure he’s blown off all the candles. As he lies there, enveloped in darkness with only his jumbled thoughts to keep him company, it takes him hours of tossing and turning before he finally falls asleep.

 

\- - -

 

The next morning Eren’s woken up by blinding light rudely permeating his eyelids, and his first reaction is to dig himself deeper under the covers. As he buries his head into the pillow, groaning out loud, it feels like his brain is trying to tell him that there’s something important he’s forgetting. Maybe it doesn’t matter that much, though - his bed feels so comfortable and warm as he shifts around, and he vows to never leave this wonderful place.  
  
That’s what he thinks, at least, but the sound of running water carrying over from the kitchen makes him crack his eyes open, the pieces finally coming together.  
  
At least the power’s back on, Eren notes, stumbling out of bed on unsteady legs. He hadn’t had that much to drink last night, yet even so he has significant trouble pulling on his pants the right way, a dull ache throbbing at his temples and making the task all the more difficult. It’s been awhile since he’s had more than a couple of beers a night, so maybe that’s why. He makes the deliberate choice to not even think about what happened the previous evening as he gets dressed, only allowing those memories to occupy his mind once he’s grasping on to the door handle and mentally preparing himself to go out there and face the facts.  
  
They’d kissed last night. He and Levi had kissed, and it hadn’t been entirely unpleasant, except maybe for the part where Levi had gone to throw up. The words from last night echo in his head as he remembers the look in Levi’s eyes when he’d told about watching Eren’s interesting face in the library, and the more Eren thinks on that statement, the less sense it starts to make. Is interesting a compliment? Does it mean that Levi’s, you know, interested in him?

There are so many questions swirling around in his head as he stands there, and despite of trying his hardest, he cannot find an answer to any single one of them.

He creeps into the hallway like a shadow, each step light and quiet, yet somehow he still manages to rouse Levi’s attention from where he’s slumped by the kitchen table. He’s changed out of the clothes Eren had borrowed him and is wearing his own clothes again, though this time they’re dry.

Thankfully Levi’s the one to speak up first, his voice hoarse and tired. “Morning,” he greets Eren, pushing his glasses further up his nose from where they’d slid down.“You wouldn’t happen to have any aspirin, would you?”

“In the cupboard on the left. Bottom shelf,” Eren replies, carefully observing every little shift in Levi’s expression. He seems mostly relieved as he shuffles to the aforementioned cupboard.

“Thank fuck. My head is killing me,” Levi groans before popping a couple of aspirins into his mouth and washing them down with water. “I swear, I’m never drinking again.”

“Yeah,” Eren agrees, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. “Uh, sorry I don’t really have any breakfast. There’s probably toast somewhere.”

“No, no, it’s fine, I don’t think I could keep anything down, anyway.” Finally turning to Eren, he makes a face as he swallows down the rest of the water. “Did I throw up or something? My mouth tastes like vomit.”

Eren’s composure crumbles just a little and he had to clear his throat to keep his voice from cracking. “You don’t remember?”

“Not really. I remember the lights going out, but after that everything’s just a blur.” There’s a mortified look slowly rising to Levi’s features. “I did throw up, didn’t I? Fuck, please tell me it didn’t get on any of your things.”

Eren gives a long exhale, the dread that’s been bubbling up in the pit of his stomach dying down. “It’s fine, it was in the toilet,” he replies, going on hesitantly. “You really don’t remember anything?”

“I’m not that good with alcohol. I remember you going to get a blanket and then it all goes dark. Literally.” Levi gives a snicker that’s soon followed by an apologetic glance at Eren. “Sorry. Bad joke.”

Eren thinks for a moment or two. “Well, I appreciate you trying to make _light_ of the situation,” he says, the tiniest of smiles lingering on his lips. Frankly, he’s quite impressed at himself for being able to make puns at a time like this. Even though he’s supposedly in the clear, he can still faintly hear his pulse pounding in his ears, and worst of all, some of that blood feels like it’s rushing to his face when Levi lets out a hoarse laugh that sounds far too lovely to Eren’s ears.

“Fucking hell,” he sighs, rubbing a hand across his face. “I should try calling my landlady again. I’ve probably overstayed my welcome.”

“No, don’t worry about something like that,” Eren’s quick to insist, digging his phone out of his pocket. “But, yeah, go ahead and give her a call.” A brief look at the screen reveals that it’s almost noon, making Eren wonder how late they’d stayed up drinking last night.

“Thanks. I have no idea how I’ll ever repay you for this, but,” Levi says, making a vague gesture as he goes to grab the phone, and it really shouldn’t be that big of a deal but their fingers brush against each other for just a second and that tiny touch leaves Eren’s skin burning for more. “Yeah. Thanks.”

“It’s fine,” Eren states as he watches Levi go and make the call. If this were a romance novel or maybe one of those cheesy fanfictions Sasha loves reading so much, here’s the part where he would’ve smoothly suggested that Levi should buy him coffee some time to make up for it. He’s lost his chance for now, though, and as he leans against the kitchen counter, he can’t help but to feel a little disappointed.  
  
It’s kinda dumb, really. He should be incredibly relieved that Levi doesn’t seem to remember anything about last night, and he is, but at the same time he feels like he’s just lost something he never really even had to begin with. Besides, it had been a pretty nice kiss, even if he does say so himself. How could you forget such a nice kiss?  
  
Though Eren tries to tell himself again and again that he’s being an idiot, the odd feeling of longing remains at the back of his head as he goes to get himself some water, too. He can hear Levi talking in the other room, so he supposes that he’s finally reached his landlady. That’s a good thing, Eren reminds himself, that’s really good, even though the heaviness that’s pressing down against his chest doesn’t ease one bit.

Just like that, they’ll go their separate ways and never speak of what happened last night. It had only been a drunken mistake, after all, and Eren’s experienced his fair share of those before. This is the first time he’s been struck by such an overwhelming wave of loss on the morning after, though.

His worrying is interrupted by Levi returning to the kitchen, a relieved look on his face. “She’s gonna be over at my place in an hour or so to let me in,” he says, handing the phone back to Eren.

“Oh, that’s good,” Eren replies, and it really is, it’s excellent, because now they’ll both be able to go on with their respective lives without sparing this incident another thought. “She’s not spending the holidays with her family?”

Levi gives a wry smile, the kind that Eren wants to lick right off his lips. “Nope, it’s just her and her numerous cats. One of them actually sort of lives with me because he doesn’t get along with other cats.” He pauses for a moment. “I think my landlady was more concerned about me not being there to feed him than anything else.”

They fall into a short silence, during which Eren is desperately trying to come up with something that’ll delay the moment where Levi walks out the door and out of his reach. “That’s great,” he states again with a forced smile.

“Yeah, I’m gonna get going now. I’ve bothered you enough for one night, I think.” With an apologetic smile, Levi takes a few steps in the direction of the bathroom to retrieve his shoes and jacket. “The blizzard seems to have died down, too.”

“How far away do you live? Can I give you a ride?” Eren calls out hastily, never mind the fact that he doesn’t even have a car.

“It’s fine, I convinced her to pick me up in front of the library,” Levi replies as he emerges, shrugging on his jacket that had been drying overnight. “I’m gonna go over there and wait for her since the place is open, anyway.”  
  
“Okay. Well,” he says, clearing his throat as he searches for something to say, but words seem to elude him. They stand there, neither one speaking, and when he catches Levi’s eyes for the briefest of moments, he thinks he sees a trace of hesitation flashing over his face.  
  
“So, uh, I guess I’ll catch you around the library some time.” With that, Levi’s already heading towards the door, and as Eren trails behind him, all he wants to do is reach out and grab him by the arm and stop him from going, because surely this cannot be how this ends.  
  
He should do it. He should just go for it, but he doesn’t. “Yeah,” he instead agrees lamely, his breath catching in his throat as Levi looks at him, really looks at him, those inquiring eyes closely trained on his face.  
  
“Thanks again,” he starts off, head tilted to the side as he lingers there for a while. “You’re a good guy, Eren.”  
  
It takes a moment for the statement to sink in, but when it does, Eren’s flooded with the memory of last night, of Levi’s comforting warmth under him and the wine that had somehow tasted a lot more delicious when he’d gotten to savor it off of Levi’s tongue. This is where he should say something, but he doesn’t. Instead he just stares, catching something shift in Levi’s eyes as he pushes the door open.  
  
“Thanks again. I’ll see you around?” There’s a questioning edge in Levi’s voice, and Eren rushes to respond.  
  
“Yeah, sure, of course,” he says, leaning against the doorframe. “Maybe at the library or something. Yeah.”  
  
There’s an unreadable expression on Levi’s face as he gives a nod. “Okay. Bye then,” he states, giving an awkward wave of his hand as steps further into the hallway, and just like that, Eren pulls the door closed after him.  
  
For a while, Eren only stands there, staring blankly ahead with a strange sense of emptiness settling over him. He didn’t do anything and now the opportunity is gone. They’ll both go on and he’ll just have to forget the feel of Levi’s lips on his and his undercut that Eren never even got to run his fingers through.  
  
Yeah, no. That’s unacceptable. He needs to have some form of closure, doesn’t matter if it’s just Levi laughing in his face for getting his hopes up.  
  
He’s prepared himself to make a mad dash along the hallway as soon as he’s yanked the door open, but it turns out that won’t be necessary since he finds Levi standing exactly where he left him. There’s an alarmed expression on his features at first since Eren nearly collides into him, but it soon turns into one of curious hopefulness.  
  
No words will still come out of Eren’s mouth, so luckily Levi’s the one to speak up first. “I do remember,” he admits, his voice wavering just a tiny bit, and it takes all of Eren’s composure to keep from reaching out and wrapping him up in his arms right there and then.  
  
“Me too,” Eren breathes out, his mouth twisting into a stupid grin. “Uh, so how about getting coffee together sometime?”  
  
There’s an amused glint in Levi’s eyes as he states, “I don’t drink coffee, remember?”  
  
“Tea, then?” Eren asks, quick to go on, “but maybe not with so much booze in it this time?”  
  
Levi smiles at him, so damn bright and brilliant that Eren could swoon. “I’d like that. I’d like that a lot.”

**Author's Note:**

> this was a secret santa gift for the lovely ackermenn over on tumblr, whooo merry christmas u cutie ~~


End file.
